Medea Benjamin

In 2004, journalist Ron Susskind quoted a Bush White House advisor, reportedly Karl Rove, as boasting, "We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality." He dismissed Susskind’s assumption that public policy must be rooted in "the reality-based community." "We’re history’s actors," the advisor told him, "…and you, all of you, … Continue reading “The Decline and Fall of the American Empire”

Most people regard Trump’s treatment of immigrant children as among his most shocking crimes as president. Images of hundreds of children stolen from their families and imprisoned in chain-link cages are an unforgettable disgrace that President Biden must move quickly to remedy with humane immigration policies and a program to quickly find the children’s families … Continue reading “Will Biden End America’s Global War on Children?”

President Biden’s commitment to re-entering the Iran nuclear deal – formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA – is already facing backlash from a motley crew of warhawks both domestic and foreign. Right now, opponents of reentering the deal are centering their vitriol on one of the nation’s foremost experts on … Continue reading “Rob Malley for Iran Envoy: A Test Case for Biden’s Commitment to Diplomacy”

Who is Victoria Nuland? Most Americans have never heard of her because the U.S. corporate media’s foreign policy coverage is a wasteland. Most Americans have no idea that President-elect Biden’s pick for Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs is stuck in the quicksand of 1950s U.S.-Russia Cold War politics and dreams of continued NATO … Continue reading “Will the Senate Confirm Coup Plotter Nuland?”

On January 11, in his final days before leaving office, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added one parting blow to the series of bludgeons his administration has inflicted on Cuba for four years: putting the island on the list of "state sponsors of terror" that includes only Iran, North Korea and Syria. The designation drew … Continue reading “The Trump Administration’s Parting Outrage Against Cuba”

Even before President-Elect Joe Biden sets foot in the White House, the Senate Intelligence Committee may start hearings on his nomination of Avril Haines as Director of National Intelligence. Barack Obama’s top lawyer on the National Security Council from 2010 to 2013 followed by CIA Deputy Director from 2013 to 2015, Haines is the proverbial … Continue reading “Why Senators Must Reject Avril Haines for Intelligence”

It was painful enough to live through the U.S invasion of Iraq that caused untold devastation and human misery for no justifiable reason. Now we are again reminded of the grim Bush legacy with President-elect Biden’s nomination of Avril Haines for Director of National Intelligence. Haines, who has an inside-the-beltway reputation for being nice and … Continue reading “No, Joe, Don’t Roll Out the Red Carpet for Torture Enablers”

Joe Biden will take command of the White House at a time when the American public is more concerned about battling coronavirus than fighting overseas wars. But America’s wars rage on regardless, and the militarized counterterrorism policy Biden has supported in the past – based on airstrikes, special operations and the use of proxy forces … Continue reading “Will Biden’s America Stop Creating Terrorists?”

Less than a year after the United States and the U.S.-backed Organization of American States (OAS) supported a violent military coup to overthrow the government of Bolivia, the Bolivian people have reelected the Movement for Socialism (MAS) and restored it to power. In the long history of U.S.-backed "regime changes" in countries around the world, … Continue reading “Ending Regime Change — in Bolivia and the World”

Toward the end of Joe Biden’s October 15 town hall session, a Trump supporter asked Biden the only foreign policy question of the night. "So peace is breaking out all over the world," the questioner claimed. "Our troops are coming home. Serbia is talking to Kosovo. And the Arabs and Israelis are talking peace, which … Continue reading “How Biden Flubbed Town Hall Foreign Policy Question”